We’re so sad that Shaky Knees 2018 is over. All the festival goodness came and left faster than Dexys Midnight Runners music career, but just because it’s over for now doesn’t mean we can’t look back fondly on all the things we love about the festival.
The Music
While so many other festivals (we’re looking at you Coachella and Music Midtown) cater increasingly to mainstream pop and EDM-crazed festival goers, Shaky Knees remains a diverse rock powerhouse across several rock genres (from psychedelic to folk to alternative), and that diversity brings in a great mix of people. This year they went up a notch on the rock scale, bringing in acts like Queens of the Stone Age, The National, Tenacious D and The Black Angels. There weren’t too many scheduling conflicts, besides Fleet Foxes and Japandroids playing at the same time, and the sound quality was outstanding all weekend. There were no bad views either whether you were standing up front at a stage or up on a hill.
Some of the hopefuls for next year’s line-up (via SK IG) include: Arcade Fire, The Kills, Alabama Shakes, Neil Young, Tame Impala, MMJ, The Lumineers, Margot Price and more. Who would you like to see?
The Venue
The festival this year was located in Central and Renaissance parks, located just outside of downtown Atlanta. Shaky Knees has been there before, but in recent years it’s been at Centennial Park downtown. While both locations have pros and cons, being right off North Avenue and Peachtree meant there were more street parking spaces and fewer $30 parking areas. Central Park also offered beautiful trees and shady areas for festival goers to relax and enjoy between sets.
If you happened to go to a late night show, you found yourself leaving the festival grounds and experiencing other parts of Atlanta, which is great for out-of-town guests. Shaky Knees brought in cool venues like The Masquerade, Terminal West and The Earl for bands to play in more intimate settings. The late night venues are oh-so-special and part of what makes Shaky Knees unique and awesome.
The Food
No one wants to stand around all day, late into the night on an empty stomach. This year Shaky Knees got crafty with their food vendors and brought in more than 20 choices. If you got tired of pizza, Island Noodles was there to save the day. If you wanted burgers, Patty Wagon was an obvious choice. And while waiting for a band at The Criminal Records stage, hopefully you tried Roti Rolls – their pulled pork, mac and cheese taco wrapped up in Roti Paratha was mouth watering. And of course, there were plenty of beers and mixed drinks to go around, too.
The Time of Year
Good ol’ Georgia heat. It gets hot fast in the South, especially around the end of May and June. But lucky for Shaky goers this festival takes place in the beginning of May – making it hot enough for festival attire and cool enough to not be drenched in sweat. And this year’s timing was even better because instead of its usual Mother’s Day weekend, it took place a weekend prior making it easier for people to go all three days.
The Crowd
Shaky Knees’ overall environment is full of “Southern” hospitality. Here in Atlanta, we pride ourselves in being friendly and it definitely shows at Shaky Knees. Most everyone was easy going and super polite, even while standing in line for the porta-potty. People were smiling and excited to talk about what bands they had just seen or were about to see. Some people even brought their kids along for the fun. It’s safe to say along with a beautiful park and friendly music, the people definitely have something to do with what makes Shaky Knees so great.
Check out scenes from the show Shaky Knees 2018 below. All photos by Mike Gerry:
